A turn of speed

The surge in the use of drives is now a worldwide phenomenon — in the consumer world as well as in industry. One example is the ability to adjust the position of car seats at the touch of a button.

Last year

reported consecutive years of strong growth, although the latest figures are awaited with interest. Production is on the move and drives companies are responding. For example, Finland's Vacon Drives has announced strategic initiatives to enter the south-east Asian, Russian and Indian markets in recognition of these areas' manufacturing growth.

This is reflected in the associated growth of many drives manufacturers. For example, a Siemens report at the tail end of last year noted that the Automation and Drives division continued to be one of the most profitable across the company, and reported a 24 per cent increase in sales over the previous year.

So what is driving this growth? in a nutshell, cost savings on the bottom line. And these savings can be vast. by applying variable speed drives to pumps, fans and compressors so they don't run 'flat out' when not required to, enormous amounts of energy can potentially be saved.